William l



W. L. CALDWELL.

INTAKE MANIFOLD HEATER.

APPLICATION man MAR.11,191u.

Patented May 27, 1919.

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WILLIAM L. CALDWELL, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

INTAKE-MANIFOLD HEATER.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented May 27, 1919.

Application led March 11, 1918'. Serial No. 221,738.

To all whom, 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. @ApnwELL, a citizen of the United States, reslding at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements -in Intake- Manifold Heaters; and I d0 declare the following to be a full, clear, and exa-ct description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for one object to provide an extremely simple and inexpensive, yet a highly eflicient and durable device for heating the intake manifold of internal combustion engines, particularly automobile engines, to insure easy starting in cold weather.

A further object is to so construct the device as to cause it to force radiation of heat from the exhaust manifold onto the intake manifold when the engine is running under its own power, thus more readily vaporizing the fuel and giving better results.

With the foregoing general objects in view, the invention resides in the novel features of construction and unique combinations' of parts to be hereinafter fully ldescribed and claimed, the descriptive matter being supplemented by the Aaccompanying drawings which form a part of the specification and in which:

Figure 1 is aside elevation of an automobile engine showing the application of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the plane of the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the outer side of the heater; and

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the inner side of the device.

Briefly speaking the invention comprises a casing 1 adapted to contain a torch and having an open side for directing the flames from the torch onto the center of the intake w`manifold I, together with a suspending plate 2 for said casing, the upper edge portion of said plate being bent laterally and downwardly at 3 to form an arched hood for passage over the exhaust manifold E. The inner side of the aforesaid hood is provided with a layer of insulating material such as asbestos as indicated at 4, this layer serving to prevent upward radiation of heat from the exhaust manifold E when the engine lis in operation, with the result that all heat will be radiated downwardly from said manifold onto the adjacent portion of the intake manifold I. This highly heats the intake. and insures more thorough vuporization of the fuel, with the, result that more perfect combustion will take place in the engine cylinders. The front end of the .hood

is preferably closed by bending the sheet metal from which it is constructed inwardly and riveting as shown at 5 in Figs. 3.and 1.

The casing 1 is preferably of the sheet metal construction shown, comprising a rectangular outer side or body 6, a top 7 bent laterally from the upper end of the side 6 and then bent upwardly to form a flange 8, a bottom 9' bent laterally from the lower end of the side 6 and further bent upwardly to partially close the inner side of the casing, and a pair of additional side walls ll bent laterally from the vertical edges of the side 6, the upper ends of said sides 11 being bent laterally into overlapping relation as shown at 12 and riveted together' and to the top 7 as disclosed at 13, while the lower ends of the walls 11 are bent inwardly and seamed "together as illustrated at 14. The flange 8 above described is secured by a bolt or the like 15 to the lower edge portion of the plate 2 and said edge is formed with a pair of notches 16 into which the upper corners of the side walls 11 project, the metal between said notches being bent laterally under the top 7 of the casing 1 as indicated at 17. This construction prevents tilting of the casing in respect to the plate 2 even though only a single fastener 15 be (employed. The lower edge of plate 2 is provided with additional notches 18 to receive the manifold clamp studs 19 0f the engine as shown in Fig. 1, and theportions 2O of the meta-l between the several notches are adapted to be clamped under the manifold clamps 21, thereby to secure the entire device rigidly in place.

In operation, a torch T is saturated with wood alcohol or other suitable vfuel and either before or after lighting this torch, it. is inserted into the casing 1 through al suit-l able opening 22 in one side thereof. The flames andl heat from the torch are thrown against the intake manifold I and heat the latter amply to insure easy starting in .the coldest weather. While the engine is running under its own power, the hood 3 and its asbestos lining 4 prevent the upward radiation of heat from the exhaust manifold E, with the result that downward radiation of such heat is forced, thus highly heating the manifold I' and insuring more thorough vaporization of the fuel than is otherwise possible.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it'will be obvious that although my invention is of extremely simple and inexpensive nature, it will be highly efficient for the purposes intended. Since probably the best results are obtained from the sheet metal construction shown and described, such construction is by preference employed, but within the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous minor changes may well be made.

I claim:

An intake manifold heatercomprising a casing adapted to contain a torch and having an open side for directing the llame therefrom against the intake manifold, and a suspension plate for said casing extending upwardly ktherefrom and curved laterally and downwardly to form an arched hood for passage over the exhaust manifold, said hood being of substantially the same length as the horizontal portion of the intake manifold and being insulated to increase the downward radiation of heat from the eX- haust manifold.

In testimony whereof l have hereunto set my hand.

wiLLIAM L. CALDWELL. 

